Choose from a cross-section of top current indie music artists, then defend your stage from hordes of quirky aliens by tapping to the music and using a fun assortment of makeshift weapons like speakers, strobe lights, fog machines, amplifiers, bouncers and custom special attacks!

LOUD on Planet X is an exciting new indie alternative to Rock Band or Guitar Hero with a splash of Plants vs Zombies – a new hybrid of rhythm game and classic shooter with tower defence elements.

Notes: *We will add Nintendo Wii-U and Xbox One to available platforms if we reach our 1st stretch goal.

STATUS:

We began development on LOUD on Planet X in January 2014 with a small but fierce team, whose individual relevant credits include working on the hit music game Sound Shapes with Beck and deadmau5 (84% on Metacritic - available on the PlayStation Network), working out of Bento Miso in Toronto.

We've been able to secure an incredible line-up of top established and emerging artists, including Tegan and Sara, Purity Ring, METZ, Metric, Lights, July Talk, F*cked Up, Cadence Weapon and Austra, as well as generous financial support from the Ontario Media Development Corporation and FACTOR Digital Marketing Fund.

Last month was the first public sneak peek of our playable prototype at GDC, PAX East and SXSW, and the response was fantastic! Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, Google and Apple are all very excited and supportive.

That said, while the scope and momentum of the project have both grown significantly, we also have a $100,000+ budget shortfall that is currently being covered through large personal investment and creative team deferrals.

OBJECTIVES:

We are currently on schedule and fully committed to releasing LOUD on Planet X with a roster of 9 Artists and 18 tracks within the calendar year for the PlayStation Network (PlayStation 4 and PS Vita), Steam (PC), and select mobile devices (iOS & Android).

Our Kickstarter goal is to include more great music (12 Artists and 24 tracks) and raise as much of our budget shortfall as possible, in order to help reduce our creative team deferrals.

Our stretch goals include adding more platforms (including the Nintendo Wii U & Xbox One) and making the game available in more regions and languages.

ABOUT POP SANDBOX:

Pop Sandbox is an award-winning small studio based in Toronto Canada.

Pop Sandbox brings together top practitioners from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines into a creative environment that aims to foster innovation. Over the past 5 years, we have worked with a diverse group of filmmakers, artists, journalists, social workers, technologists, playwrights, animators, composers, game designers, activists and musicians on groundbreaking graphic novel, film, videogame and interactive experiences.

Select projects include:

Pipe Trouble, a high-profile mobile game that uses over-the-top satire to prompt mainstream discussion surrounding ongoing issues related to the exploitation of natural gas. Featured at the Cannes Film Festival, Games for Change, Hot Docs, Indiecade East, and SXSW.

KENK: A Graphic Portrait, a best-selling 300-page journalistic comic book surrounding “the world’s most prolific bicycle thief” (The New York Times) that is currently being developed into a fully animated film. #1 Graphic novel on Amazon.ca, Book of the Year – Quill & Quire.

The Next Day, a groundbreaking interactive animated documentary and companion graphic novel based on real interviews with 4 survivors of near fatal suicide attempts. Selected for The New York Times Reading List and International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

PARTNERS:

LOUD on Planet X is an original Pop Sandbox production being developed with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation and FACTOR, the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.

SPREAD THE WORD & GET A FREE COPY OF "KENK":

Sign-on for our Thunderclap or share our Kickstarter on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and get a FREE digital copy of KENK: A Graphic Portrait (our award-winning 300 page journalistic comic book surrounding "the world's most prolific bicycle thief," which is being developed into an animated film)!

All you have to do is screen grab your share and send it to LOUDonPlanetX@gmail.com. This special offer is made possible through a partnership with Sequential.

Risks and challenges

NOTE:
We are currently on schedule and fully committed to releasing LOUD on Planet X with a roster of 9 Artists and 18 tracks within the calendar year for the PlayStation Network (PlayStation 4 and PS Vita), Steam (PC) and select mobile devices (iOS & Android).

This campaign is to add more music, more platforms, and help reduce some of the very large personal investment and creative team deferrals.

CHALLENGES:
We began work on LOUD on Planet X using the Unity Pro 4 game engine. Some ongoing challenges include unforeseeable hiccups and necessary adjustments in updating to recently released Unity Pro 5.

We are also challenged with ensuring that the game experience is consistent across platforms, with either controller or touch-screen interface, and performs equally well on mobile devices as on the much higher-powered next generation consoles (and that the game is available for as many mobile devices as possible).

Working with Unity Pro makes a cross-platform release possible, but each platform still brings its own specific requirements, limitations and challenges. We are aiming for a simultaneous release across all target platforms, but said challenges may require slight staggering. Achieving our Kickstarter targets will help bring on additional help to assist with simultaneous cross-platform release.

Side Note: A specific challenge to this Kickstarter campaign is that Apple's current terms and conditions do not support developers distributing games or apps as Kickstarter rewards. As a result, we have had to omit iOS as a platform in our rewards unless Apple's policies change.

> YOUR AVATAR AS POWER-UP IN GAME!
(your personal avatar animated and included as a special power-up in the game! Become the Bouncer, Crowd Surfer or part of the Attack Mob… Includes 5" x 7" PRINT of your illustration, signed by Artist)

> ALL Limited Ed. SIGNED BAND PRINTS
(All 6 different 5" x 7" illustration in game style, signed by Musicians. Includes AUSTRA, BRENDAN CANNING & JUSTIN PEROFF, JULY TALK, LIGHTS, METRIC & METZ - Only 25 in existence!)

> YOUR AVATAR AS POWER-UP IN GAME!
(your personal avatar animated and included as a special power-up in the game! Become the Bouncer, Crowd Surfer or part of the Attack Mob… Includes 5" x 7" PRINT of your illustration, signed by Artist)

> 2 Tickets to VIP LAUNCH PARTY
(does not include transportation to Toronto)

> DINNER FOR 2 WITH CREATIVE TEAM
(does not include transportation to Toronto)

> ADDITIONAL AVATAR IN THE GAME!
(2nd personal avatar animated and included in audience for first level of the game! Includes a 5" x 7" PRINT of illustration, signed by the Artist)

> ALL Limited Ed. SIGNED BAND PRINTS
(All 6 different 5" x 7" illustration in game style, signed by Musicians. Includes AUSTRA, BRENDAN CANNING & JUSTIN PEROFF, JULY TALK, LIGHTS, METRIC & METZ - Only 25 in existence!)

> YOUR AVATAR AS POWER-UP IN GAME!
(your personal avatar animated and included as a special power-up in the game! Become the Bouncer, Crowd Surfer or part of the Attack Mob… Includes 5" x 7" PRINT of your illustration, signed by Artist)

> 4 Tickets to VIP LAUNCH PARTY
(does not include transportation to Toronto)

> DINNER FOR 4 WITH CREATIVE TEAM
(does not include transportation to Toronto)